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On the Record
Emeric d’Arcimoles, CEO and President of Turbomeca
Long established in France as a maker of aircraft engines — and currently claiming the world’s widest range of turboshaft powerplants for helicopters — Turbomeca has recently been incorporated in the new Safran group. There has been, however, none of the major restructuring associated with some changes of ownership, and Turbomeca continues to work, as before, at full capacity, within the Aerospace Propulsion branch of Safran’s empire.
“It’s not too different now,” says company CEO and President Emeric d’Arcimoles, “except that we have an expanded opportunity for more synergies in different branches of Safran, such as use of the engine test base at Pau, in Southern France.”
In these days of individual customers’ competitions for helicopter engines, Turbomeca is kept busy promoting its range. “Events in the past year have confirmed the strength of our partnership with Rolls-Royce in the RTM322 engine. We have won all the competitions to power the NHIndustries NH 90, including, most recently, Australia. I expect New Zealand to follow by the end of the year.”
That leaves Italy as sole operator of NH 90s with the rival GE T700 turboshaft. “In view of long-standing Italian connections with General Electric, that is understandable,” concedes d’Arcimoles.
The HAL Dhruv on show here is a reminder of the successful links between Turbomeca and India. Two years ago, a framework contract was agreed for up to 700 engines to be ordered in annual batches, currently running at some 40 per year. Deliveries are under way of TM333s for the Dhruv, while Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has an 11% share in development of the new Ardiden (locally Shakti) follow-on.
“Ardiden will run on the test bench in late September,” confirmed d’Arcimoles. “The program is experiencing no delays and we are happy with our good partnership with HAL.”
D’Arcomoles is delighted by the current program of retrofitting Arriel 2 engines in Dauphins of the U.S. Coast Guard. “The fact that they are replacing a U.S. engine with a French one — especially in view of the currently strained political situation with France — is a strong signal that Arriel 2 is the best in its sector of the market.”
Despite forthcoming establishment of a U.S. production line for Arriel 2 and Arrius 2, Turbomeca was not considered for the new S-76D, which has an engine built by another member of Sikorsky’s holding group. “We can accept that as normal within a family, but the market does not like this approach,” warns d’Arcimoles. —Paul Jackson
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